David Archer

California Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed Congressman Xavier Becerra to be the new California attorney general, reported The Guardian.
Becerra is leading the state’s court battles with President Donald Trump over climate change, immigration and more, the newspaper story reported.
Becerra is a 24-year veteran of Congress. He graduated from Stanford University with a law degree and also worked in the Civil Division of the California Attorney General’s Office, The Guardian noted on Dec. 1.
He became the highest-ranking Latino member of … [Read more...] about California’s first Latino AG leads fight against presidential policies

Some U.S. prisons are testing a monthly injection that could help addicted prisoners stay off opioids, reported The Associated Press (AP).
The drug named Vivitrol is injected in the buttocks and lasts for four weeks, the story said.
Each shot costs as much as $1,000, the Nov. 20 AP story noted.
Experts do not agree on how well it works, but it eliminates daily doses of an alternative like methadone, according to the AP.
The total drug-overdose deaths was 64,070 in the 12 months through January 2017.” The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 27, 2017 … [Read more...] about Prisons testing new drug to combat opioid addictions

By David Eugene Archer Sr.
At least 13,500 low-level drug offenders were freed from prisons and jails by California voters in 2014, reported USA Today.
“Did Prop 47 help?” the newspaper asked. The answer appears to be “not much.”
Thousands are now homeless, jobless and again committing petty crimes.
The Prop 47 releases exposed the limits of California’s neglected social service programs.
The proposition earmarked millions of dollars saved from prison costs for inmate rehabilitation, but not one penny was spent — even though expanding … [Read more...] about Negative: Parolees leave prison homeless and jobless

A former California prison warden can face trial in a sex abuse case, a federal appeals court ruled in October, said the Press Enterprise.
Guillermo Garcia, former warden of the California Institution for Women (CIW), lost his appeal in a federal appeals court on Oct. 12, Oakland-based Justice First Attorneys at Law said.
Garcia had claimed “he should be immune from liability and dismissed from the case,” said a news release from Justice First, plaintiffs’ attorneys.
Jossie Ramos and Melissa Ortiz are the plaintiffs who were prisoners at … [Read more...] about Court OKs ex-warden’s trial for guard’s sex with inmates

The 17 propositions on the California November ballot set a new state record for donations at $473.5 million, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Prop. 61, 56 and 52 accounted for more than half of the total contributions, according to the California Secretary of State records.
That $473.5 million was roughly twice what Republican candidate Donald Trump reported raising for his presidential campaign, a review in the Times said.
“On average, more than $1.5 million has been raised every day this year to influence the outcome of propositions on … [Read more...] about $473.5 million spent on 17 state ballot measures

President-elect Trump causes immigrant “dreamers” to be fearful of deportation, according to a Texas newspaper.
The young, undocumented immigrants, granted relief from deportation under President Barack Obama’s 2012 executive order, are “freaking out” because of Donald Trump, the Texas Tribune reported.
During “his smash-talking presidential run,” Trump promised to wipe away the order with a stroke of a pen, according to the Tribune.
The “dreamers” are undocumented immigrants who came here as children. They were granted a “sort of legal … [Read more...] about Dreamers fearful of deportation with President Trump

The Obama administration met with correctional officials in July to address the spike in overdose deaths in the nation’s jails and prisons due to opioid narcotics, reported Christopher Moraff.
At this White House summit on July 17, Michael Botticelli, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said, “Everybody has a role to play in ending the opioid epidemic.”
“We need to make sure that individuals with opioid-use disorders who are incarcerated have access to evidence-based treatment so they can achieve and sustain … [Read more...] about Dealing with opioid deaths in prison

A contentious Justice Department policy that could speed up death-row executions is closer to taking effect, after a recent federal appeals court ruling.
The opinion from the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this March tossed a 2013 lawsuit brought by the Habeas Corpus Resource Center in California and the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Arizona, reported the Wall Street Journal.
The three-judge panel wrote, “Assisting and counseling clients in the face of legal uncertainty is the role of lawyers.” The panel found … [Read more...] about Justice Department’s policy fast track executions

States and counties charge legal financial obligations to defendants keeping them in poverty, according to The Atlantic.
Alexes Harris, the author of A Pound of Flesh: Monetary Sanctions for the Poor, categorized how jurisdictions across the country place court fines and fees called legal financial obligations (LFOs) on defendants that they are not able to pay.
She spoke to a female victim of domestic violence who spent eight years in prison for shooting the father of her son. She was charged $33,000 in LFOs. Thirteen years later, after … [Read more...] about County fines and fees keep defendants in poverty